Villarreal hosts the European champion Real Madrid

It’s time for the Spanish La Liga to start once again. Let’s head out to the Estadio de la Ceramica, where Villarreal hosts the European champion Real Madrid in a game from the 17th round of the league.

Villarreal are entering this game from a complicated position. At this moment the Yellow Submarine is 18th in the league standings, being positioned in the relegation zone of the league. For a team which usually fights for European qualification, this is something completely new for Villarreal.

Not so long ago Villarreal made a managerial change and appointed Luis Garcia for a manager. But we can say that his efforts so far are not giving the results which everyone desires. In their last five matches Villarreal won only once, managing to beat Real Betis at home. In its last fixture the Yellow Submarine lost two points during the visit to Huesca, which ended with a 2-2 draw. Until the last seconds of the game Villarreal had one goal advantage, thanks to goals from Carlos Bacca and Gerard Moreno. The visitors were close to winning this one, but Huesca’s Samuele Longo equalized with a goal in the 94th minute.

With a game less in their record, Real Madrid are currently 4th in La Liga with 29 points. At this moment the distance between Real Madrid and the leader Barcelona is 8 points. But for Los Blancos this game is a great opportunity to reduce the gap.

In their last fixture Real Madrid enjoyed a third consecutive win in the league, beating Rayo Vallecano with 1-0 at the Bernabeu. The only goal in the game was scored by Karim Benzema after just 13 minutes of playing.